Since cutting gluten out of my diet, one of the things that I’ve missed eating most is egg rolls. I remember biting into the flaky outer crust, getting to the crunchy cabbage and steamy chicken filling, and then dipping it all into a delectable sweet and sour sauce. Oh how I miss those egg roll days. Unfortunately that doughy outer shell would cause a gnarly stomachache for me today, so I’ve had to get creative with the wrapper situation.

I’m definitely not the first person to fry rice paper rolls; I’ve watched videos of numerous creators frying up Vietnamese Spring Rolls, and I’ve been itching to get into the kitchen and try them out for myself. This recipe is my rendition of the many videos I’ve found inspiration from.

Since I’ve been craving egg rolls, this recipe calls for a shredded chicken and vegetable filling. Cabbage doesn’t always sit well with my stomach, so I opted for fresh slices of jalapeño to provide that crunchy texture. This recipe involves ginger, carrots, onions, and other vegetables whose scraps I normally find myself throwing out. In order to mitigate waste, many of the scraps will be put to use in a broth to boil the chicken. If your have pre-cooked chicken, you can just use that and save these scraps for another broth.

Scraps to cook the chicken: carrots, half an onion, a few cloves of garlic, ginger bits, black peppercorns, and bay leaves.

If you have other vegetables on hand that you need to get rid of, feel free to throw them into the pan when you’re making the filling. I had bell peppers, ginger, carrots, onions, celery, and garlic on hand so that was what ended up comprising mine.

To wrap up the filling, you’ll need two rice paper sheets per roll. The second rice paper sheet is needed to prevent the roll from breaking when you fry it up. I served my rolls with a pre-made Thai Sweet Chili sauce, but feel free to get creative and make your own sauce. A traditional spring roll peanut sauce would pair well with these too!

The final product should look a little something like this!

Equipment

Non-stick frying pan
Chef's knife
Cutting Board
Shallow bowl of water to dip rice paper into
Large pot with lid to boil chicken

Ingredients

Chicken Filling

3-4 large Chicken thighs shredded
1/2 small Yellow onion finely diced
3-4 cloves Garic minced
1 piece Ginger 1 inch, peeled and minced
2 large Carrots peeled, thinly sliced (save peels for chicken broth)
1/2 Bell pepper finely sliced
2 stalks Celery finely diced
3-4 tbsp Gluten free soy sauce or tamari sub regular soy sauce
Neutral oil for frying
1 tsp Red chili flakes optional
Salt and pepper to taste

Rice Paper Rolls

20-30 sheets Rice paper 2 sheets per roll
1 Jalapeño thinly sliced
Mint
Cilantro

Instructions

Fill a large pot up with water. Add carrot peels, excess ginger chunks, garlic cloves, 1 tsp black peppercorns, 3-4 bay leaves, 1/2 onion, salt, and chicken thighs to it. Bring to a boil and cook for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked. Once fully cooked, wait for it to cool and shred it. Skip this step if you have pre-made, shredded chicken.
Prepare all of your stir fry vegetables. Heat oil up in a spacious pan and start by frying the garlic, onion, and ginger for 2-3 mins on medium heat, stirring frequently.
Next, add the sliced carrots and fry for 2 more mins.
Mix in the diced celery and sliced bell peppers last and fry for 2-3 more mins.
Once the vegetable mixture is golden brown, add in the shredded chicken. Season with salt, pepper, and red chili flakes.
Add soy sauce and mix well.
Cook for 3-5 more minutes and remove from heat. Allow chicken mixture to cool before making spring rolls.
Start forming spring rolls by dipping a rice paper wrapper in lukewarm water for 10-15 seconds.
Lay it on a slightly damp cutting board or flat surface. Add about a tablespoon of the chicken mixture close to the bottom half of the wrapper, leaving about an inch of space from the bottom.
Add in fresh jalapeño slices, some cilantro, and mint.
Roll the bottom part of the rice paper wrapper over the filling. Fold in the left and right side of the wrapper. Then, proceed to roll the bottom part all the way up until you have a roll.
If you want to fry the rolls, wet a second piece of rice paper and wrap everything again in a second sheet.
Once all of your rolls are ready, heat a neutral oil up in a frying pan to medium high heat. Fry each roll for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
Serve with your favorite dipping sauce!

Hello, I'm Nicole!

Crispy Chicken Rice Paper Rolls (Gluten Free)